EU Targets 'Illegal and Harmful Content' With Digital Services Act
European Union policymakers have reached an agreement on the Digital Services Act (DSA) targeting social media platforms, search engines, and other large technology companies.
"The DSA sets out an unprecedented new standard for the accountability of online platforms regarding illegal and harmful content," the European Commission says in its announcement. "It will provide better protection for internet users and their fundamental rights, as well as define a single set of rules in the internal market, helping smaller platforms to scale up."
The act targets four kinds of companies: intermediary services such as domain name registrars and internet access providers; hosting services; "online platforms bringing together sellers and consumers such as online marketplaces, app stores, collaborative economy platforms and social media platforms"; and "very large online platforms" used by more than 10% of Europeans.
The European Commission says these very large online platforms have "more responsibility in curbing illegal content online" and "could pose particular risks in the dissemination of illegal content and societal harms" because they're so prevalent. (Which is why critics have complained about the potential for abuse on Twitter and Facebook, for example, but not MySpace.)
The obligations introduced by the DSA vary based on how a company is categorized. Intermediary services have the fewest new obligations, for example, and very large online platforms have the most. The European Commission offers more information about these obligations on its website and identifies three "key goals" for the new standards:
Better protect consumers and their fundamental rights online
Establish a powerful transparency and a clear accountability
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